“With various approaches to free cooling available, picking the right one can mean the difference between a low PUE and a sustainable data centre, and major cost with lack of scalability.”

A lot has been said about Ireland’s climate being perfect for free cooling of data centres, with all the savings in cooling costs that brings, as well as being kinder to the environment.

But is this true? How hard is it to achieve real free cooling?
What are the inhibitors, and is it really suitable for all?

With major developments in recent years regarding safe operating temperatures in data centres, the need for cooling the air coming into data centres has arguably been significantly reduced. In light of this, can chillers simply be turned off, effectively achieving the same thing?

This TechFire briefing on 11 September 2015, examined data centre cooling and power management in Ireland, to see where real savings and efficiencies can be achieved, asking where and how free cooling can be employed, and if it isn’t right for you, exploring the practical alternatives. The meeting covered the various cooling architectures and contributory factors to improve cooling efficiency.

Jim Hearnden, Dell

Jim Hearnden is an Enterprise Technologist at Dell specialising in Data Centres, specifically power and cooling with long term experience of all types of computer hardware and environments. With a background in electrical, mechanical & electronic engineering, he is Dell’s only certified EU CoC for Data Centre assessor.

Lubos Vaclavek

Lubos Vaclavek is a business development manager at Schneider Electric. Specialising in cooling solutions, he holds a Ph. D. in mechanical engineering, specialising in HVAC and refrigeration.

Vincent Barro

Vincent Barro is Ireland vice-president for Schneider’s data centre and IT business.

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